Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Monthly Recap – December 2024

PCAPP Monthly Recap December 2024

The Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, or PCAPP, is in the closure phase. From 2015 to 2023, the PCAPP team destroyed 780,078 projectiles and mortar rounds containing 2,613 tons of the blister agent mustard. The last chemical weapon in the stockpile in Colorado was destroyed June 22, 2023. The Pueblo plant will be in the closure phase for approximately three years.

The last chemical munition in the declared U.S. stockpile was destroyed July 7, 2023, in Richmond, Kentucky.

Highlights

  • The Pueblo plant’s 2024 accomplishments were featured in a video, Closing the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Facility; 2024 Year in Review, which may be viewed on the Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/PLeNoApymB0
  • Following early December posting of the PCAPP parcel as surplus property on the Federal Register, Walton Levi, site project manager, hosted a plant tour and update for Base Realignment and Closure representatives Dec. 10.
  • Closure waste shipments continued to permitted, hazardous waste facilities in Colorado and Texas.
  • On Dec. 20, the plant received state approval for two, Class 1 permit modifications: PMR SO30 allows PCAPP to reinstate G Block igloos for waste storage, and the PMR C003, lets the plant initiate closure of five Hazardous Waste Management Units.

Safety

  • PCAPP staff worked closely with a vendor to safely and compliantly recover a tipped-over waste roll-off dumpster during vendor loading Dec. 9.
  • As of Dec. 31, 2024, the Bechtel Pueblo team completed 4,681,658 hours without a lost-time accident.

Main Plant

  • On Dec. 4, workers made the first Toxic Area entry wearing lower levels of protective gear since operations began in 2016, due to effective decontamination and cleaning activities. The lower protection levels allow workers to perform duties without having to pull air hoses with them as they move, to handle tools more easily and effectively, and to lower stress levels from wearing the more-restrictive gear.
  • Workers removed the discharge conveyor and the bin enclosure from the Munitions Treatment Unit.
  • The gear box and motor have been removed from the Agent Neutralization Reactor, and preparations have begun for removal of the agitators.
  • Sampling activities continued in multiple areas of the plant, some listed below, to ensure those areas are clear of any chemical agent residue before demolition work begins:
    • Floor chip sampling in the Munitions Service Magazine.
    • Concrete chip sampling in B14 (Water Recovery System).
    • Floor rinsate sampling in B09 Immobilized Cell Bioreactor Module 4.

Static Detonation Chambers (SDC)

  • Workers completed steam decontamination in all three SDC units.
  • After scaffolding was installed and equipment removed in SDC Unit 1, workers conducted a successful Unventilated Monitoring Test.
  • A spare SDC fragmentation shield was delivered to the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant in Kentucky to assist workers with SDC maintenance.

Workforce

  • 1,025 workers are employed on the project as of Dec. 31; 633 have been released.
  • The workforce enjoyed a celebratory breakfast to acknowledge 4 million safe work hours without a lost-time injury.
  • A job fair will be held at the site on Feb. 5-6 with representation by the following companies: Fluor Corporation – Aurora, Colo. Location, CS Wind, City of Pueblo, Pueblo Police Department, Fuji Film, Colorado Rural Water Association, Trane, Colorado apprenticeship Hub, ENSCO, and Idaho National.

Upcoming Meetings

  • A Colorado public meeting for Permit Modification Request B075 – Updates to Constituents of Potential Concern will be held Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. MT. The public comment period is open through Feb. 13.

    Online platform: Zoom 
    Phone: 1 (719) 359-4580 Meeting ID:  84351934182#

  • The next Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens’ Advisory Commission meeting will be held online Feb. 26 at 3 p.m. MT. Join online by using the link and information below.

    Online platform: Zoom
    Phone: 1 (719) 359-4580 Meeting ID: ‪84351934182#

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